So here I am on the outer banks of North Carolina in a Quaint and rustic KOA campgrounds cabin. There is no AC like the last KOA cabin but the internet here works great, unlike the last KOA. I have electricity and internet. `I am content as I drink a beer while sitting on my front porch swing two one finger typing (broken finger and hand in cast, remember?) todayís entry.

Up until now I believed that the outer banks of N.C. were known as Cape Hatteras and then I got here and Hatteras is one of many towns on the Outer Banks of the Sound of Pamlico. Iím totally confused and need to look it up (Hatteras, town, cape or both?). Iím in Rodanthe right now, about halfway up, and I have to mention that although this is the east coast the banks are far enough out in the sea (about 20 miles!) that they experience both a sunrise and a gorgeous sunset. Itís flat out beautiful land, sea and sky unmatched by anything Iíve experienced before in the Atlantic.

The thing I *donít* like is that I expected it to have developed like Cape Cod with modest villages of working fishermen and sea captains. Later development would have been wooden tents, otherwise known as cottages, for vacation homes. Further development would have included conversion of those cottages into real homes.

*NOT*

What I saw instead, and I donít know if I should blame it on frequent hurricanes wiping out whole settlements or greedy developers but the whole thing is over run with brand new luxury townhouses, all of which are for rent. As far as I can tell only the people running the tourist traps are locals and not even all of them either. To see a land this beautiful not have a native populace makes me sad. Itís an entirely transient, tourist orientated strip of beach devoid of local color. The only thing that makes me happy is that so much beach remains untouched and with all the rentals, itís at least shared by many.